Confirmed with Link: Oilers will be giving up third round pick in Lucic/Neal swap

[McTedi]

The NHL being the NHL but I'm not going to bust blood vessels over this. I mean the important thing is we got rid of Lucic and his boat anchor contract. That needs to be seen in perspective. That and Neal is better player pretty much by default at this point.

The worst thing, always, was the Lucic contract and acquisition, said that from day 1. Him gone is sunny days all week, month, year. Let Lucic be somebody elses problem. Good luck motivating a Flames bench when that dull retiree is pulling in 6M and being nothing. In a capped league having cap spent elsewhere than lucic is win.

Yup...still worth it and I'm not a big fan of Neal. Lucic was a boat anchor, I am mildly curious to see how he performs against the Jets.

 

[Bangers]

Total joke, but to be expected from the NHL.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I would like to congratulate Morgan Geekie on his art ross and rocket win this year while we’re at it.

2gp - 3G 1A

We’re very lucky to have gotten to experience someone on pace for a truly generational season this year!

82gp - 123G 41A

I wonder how many ELC guys will get their bonus' due to prorating stats, who cares if they have 1 game played.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

What a load of horseshit. I hope the pick ends up being a generational NCAA player that signs with another team after getting the Flames hopes up. You seriously cannot make this shit up.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

This really annoys me, but at at the end of the day that draft pick probably won't be an NHLer so I won't be too upset.

Seriously, look at picks 20-30 from round 3 over the years. It's not that big a deal. It's annoying, but ultimately likely insignificant.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I have the odd feeling that Holland's already got the appeal letter being written up.

If the condition had purely been Neal scoring 21 goals, you could at least argue prorating it. But I don't see how the league can guarantee Neal will score 2 more goals and Lucic won't get 3 over the same period.

I mean if the league's looking into the crystal ball for this, Holland should ask if they saw the team shutting Neal down for the last couple game if he got to 20 goals to let him fully heal up his ankle for the playoffs.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

League dropped the ball on this one. There was no condition on the deal to pro-rate stats.
Do I really care about the 3rd round pick? It's not the end of the world.
But It's the principal of the thing, in upholding a deal fairly on the accurate conditions.
Neal did not hit 21 goals. It doesn't't count to his stats.
Does that mean they add two goals to his career stats?
They have to do better than this.
Very disappointing.

 

[Bangers]

League dropped the ball on this one. There was no condition on the deal to pro-rate stats.
Do I really care about the 3rd round pick? It's not the end of the world.
But It's the principal of the thing, in upholding a deal fairly on the accurate conditions.
Neal did not hit 21 goals. It doesn't't count to his stats.
Does that mean they add two goals to his career stats?
They have to do better than this.
Very disappointing.

It wouldn't p*** me off as much if the Oilers hadn't already gotten screwed like this on the Chiarelli and McLellan fiascos.

 

[OiledUp]

Ok. So prorating is fine for trade conditions but not to determin where teams end up in the regular season standings. There's a joke here somewhere but it's on us.

 

[Fourier]

This is exactly what I thought they would do. It is completely consistent with how the NHL acts in situations like this.

 

[LemmyUlanov55]

Nah, not getting riled up over this one. Kinda expected, though I didn't imagine the league would just clown rule this one. If that's the bonus price the Oil have to pay in order to get rid of Lucic's contract, alright then..

 

[Kahvi]

As a Flames fan, I dont agree with this decision. I think it's about 50/50 between Flames fans how they see it. NHL might just start giving Art Ross and Rocket based on pace

 

[harpoon]

Sorry Kurt. Que sera sera isn’t going to cut it here. I really believed that with Holland being the GM the days of the Oilers getting screwed by the league on these bullshit draft pick rulings (draft picks for Chiarelli and McLellan) was over. This one is even worse than those rulings though because the conditions of the deal were flat out not met. Holland cannot just roll over and take this.

Bettman is just a gutless shrew. f*** that guy. Can’t wait till he lets the Flames weasel out of Lucic’s contract cause the big oaf has a ‘medical problem’.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Im curious how the league decided on this (odd that they didn't include an rationale with the original news). My guess is they just pro-rated the stats for the conditions on the trade.

21 goals in 82 games is 17.9 goals in 70 games.
10 more goals over 82 is 8.5 in 70.

Neal does cover both of those, but it's random that pro-rate applies here and no where else when it comes to stats/bonuses. Plus it's not hard to argue from an Oilers perspective that Neal's bummed ankle was going to stop him from scoring two more. Or that the team would have shut him down after he hit 20 to let him heal up for the playoffs.


As I said earlier, I have the feeling this is going to head to an arbitrator.

 

[harpoon]

Ok man calm down.

And you have the right to be in here telling Oiler fans to calm down because ...?

 

[Rpenny]

They should not have decided this after the playoffs

 

[FlameChampion]

Was pissed when I heard the news last night. Decided to go to sleep, thinking maybe it would dissipate. Nope, still pissed off. Hockey is a great game, but the NHL makes my blood boil sometimes.

 

[67hawks]

What a load of horseshit. I hope the pick ends up being a generational NCAA player that signs with another team after getting the Flames hopes up. You seriously cannot make this shit up.

Doesn't this pick belong to Chicago after the Gustaffson trade at the TDL?

 

[Gordian Knot]

Well, as losing 3rd to Calgary is bad, but keep in mind they are giving up on cup when Looch is on their roster.

 

[TB12]

Absolutely hilarious how many people on here called this back when the league stopped play and were like: “The Oilers will be giving up that pick because: a) the league is a joke and will invent rules and b) they never miss an opportunity to screw over the Oilers.”

well, you guys nailed it. As someone above said, it’s not the fact that it’s a 3rd it’s the principle of the thing. This league is such a joke sometimes. Hockey is such a great sport and a bad business. Smh.

 

[McDrai]

Absolutely hilarious how many people on here called this back when the league stopped play and were like: “The Oilers will be giving up that pick because a) the league is a joke will invent rules and b) they never miss an opportunity to screw over the Oilers.”

well, you guys nailed it. As someone above said, it’s not the fact that it’s a 3rd it’s the principle of the thing. This league is such a joke sometimes. Hockey is such a great sport and a bad business. Smh.

It seems as if the NHL makes up new rules as they go and will make determinations on things based on the organizations involved. Do you think a team like Arizona would have to give up a 3rd rounder in the same scenario? Most likely not. We have rich ownership and a rock solid fanbase that has stayed loyal to the team throughout the dark ages. When the league makes any decision that involves the Oilers, they will always rule against the Oilers because of wealthy ownership and the die hard loyal fanbase. It is total bush league and I hope the Oilers take legal action. Enough is Enough.

 

[shoop]

Sorry Kurt. Que sera sera isn’t going to cut it here. I really believed that with Holland being the GM the days of the Oilers getting screwed by the league on these bullshit draft pick rulings (draft picks for Chiarelli and McLellan) was over.

Kurt is a dbag and a terrible writer. I'm not agreeing with his que sera sera.

I do think people are getting a little too into the conspiracy theories with the league having it out for the Oilers is a bit much. Things have worked out for the Oilers and gone against the Oilers.

We won the freaking Connor McDavid draft lottery. Edmonton was selected as a hub city which is another huge bonus.

The McLellan and Chia draft picks were absolutely, 100% bullsh*t. Yes, the decision to go with points percentage didn't go Edmonton's way but that was honestly the fairest decision given the situation.

Gripe about the decision about the third but I'm ok with it for this reason. Would you have liked the trade if it was a third going to the Flames instead of a conditional third?

 

[alphahelix]

I agree, Ken Holland needs to be the backbone that this team has been missing over the years. Send a team of arbitrators and lawyers, and back room lobby other GMs and owners. Sather was a master at this, maybe get him back on the payroll. We should be getting the benefit of the doubt and decisions erred in our favour from here on out, from CBA judgements to trade allocations to suspensions and player safety issues. We should treat the league like a hostile power seeking to pilfer our resources at this stage.

 

[alphahelix]

Kurt is a dbag and a terrible writer. I'm not agreeing with his que sera sera.

I do think people are getting a little too into the conspiracy theories with the league having it out for the Oilers is a bit much. Things have worked out for the Oilers and gone against the Oilers.

We won the freaking Connor McDavid draft lottery. Edmonton was selected as a hub city which is another huge bonus.

The McLellan and Chia draft picks were absolutely, 100% bullsh*t. Yes, the decision to go with points percentage didn't go Edmonton's way but that was honestly the fairest decision given the situation.

Gripe about the decision about the third but I'm ok with it for this reason. Would you have liked the trade if it was a third going to the Flames instead of a conditional third?

C’mon dude. The league could have Comfortably chosen Edmonton as a hub city in April and allowed teams in highly infected virus denying markets to host their training camps in Edmonton. Could have avoided problems and allowed Edmonton to prepare to host —- instead, it has been reported that Toronto began preparations early while Edmonton was only informed they would be a host at the last minute and had to scramble, despite being the clear and obvious choice from the beginning. RIDICULOUS. From a health perspective, In the beginning there were only 2 viable places (Ontario had bad numbers initially), Vancouver and Edmonton, and the league blew it in Vancouver and tried everything in their power not to choose Edmonton. So they get no credit here IMHO. What were they going to do, select Tampa Bay? We won by default, BEGRUDGINGLY, despite having optimal facilities and conditions.

Now, the only way you can say that the Connor McDavid lottery was the league being nice to us is if you are assuming the lottery is a totally illegitimate farce, which is a conspiracy theory that stretches beyond the concept of preferential treatment into criminality and fraud. Most people are not suggesting that. To play devils advocate though, we desperately needed defence in 2014 and lost the lottery chance at Ekblad.

Anyway, the leagues decisions against the Oilers go beyond draft compensation, although the league enforcing the coaching and GM draft picks almost exclusively on Edmonton was absolutely ridiculous and egregious. Look at Parros player safety decisions on Oilers. There is no parallel for Kassian’s suspension, for example. It stands alone and in the context of the game state makes no sense.

We have had terrible refs like McGeough forced on us in the past in critical games, making desperately poor calls costing us games.

We were heavily victimized in the goal reviews, interference and blue line, etc.

It goes into most facets of the league, for whatever reason. It feels like something that is part of the “culture” for them. It’s probably not a nefarious cabal of top executives plotting against Edmonton, but it is probably a cultural thing —- “everybody knows Edmonton is a safe market, we have to protect nascent franchises whose business situations are precarious, Edmonton has had their share of cups and lottery wins they don’t need any help, the fans will support anyway, lets focus on vegas and Arizona....” etc. The league IS a business, and I bet behind closed doors that is EMPHASIZED to employees. The love of the game is marketing speak. Dollars are the doctrine. Plus just remember that during the dynasty a lot of the league hated Edmonton, just because they were good. Toronto centric league office types especially. That kind of stuff sticks with you.

Calgary needs a new castle and the King is dead, but I don’t think this has a lot to do with Calgary in particular - although they do seem to have a Relatively large contingent of bootlicking media personalities headquartered there. We need to militarize our advocacy and lobbying efforts. I could see this pick compensation being a 5th round pick or something and I would still be disappointed because it violates the letter of the law but at least it would minimize the egregiousness of this robbery.

 

[Faelko]

This really annoys me, but at at the end of the day that draft pick probably won't be an NHLer so I won't be too upset.

Seriously, look at picks 20-30 from round 3 over the years. It's not that big a deal. It's annoying, but ultimately likely insignificant.

One issue is that draft picks are also currency for making other deals. My issue is simple, it’s not right, I wouldn’t care if it was a 7th round pick, I’d still be mad.